Wendigo

 

The Wendigo was gaunt to the point

of emaciation, its desiccated

skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones

pushing out against its skin, its

complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes

pushed back deep into

their sockets, the Wendigo looked like

a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred

from the grave. What lips it had were

tattered and bloody.

Its body was unclean and suffering

 from suppurations of the flesh,

giving off a strange and eerie odor

of decay and decomposition

of death and corruption.

“Basil Johnston, Ojibwe teacher and scholar,

Ontario, Canada” 

Barry, Clarence, Elenore and Tracy embarked on what ended up being a terrifying journey in which only two of them survived. The ground, covered in a thick layer of snow, crunched when walked upon. Cumulus clouds blanketed the winter sky. Crows flew from tree to tree, cawing messages to one another. A monster stomped through the forest looking for prey. Hungry all the time, he is only truly satisfied when he eats human flesh. An unsuspecting rabbit crossed its path. He pounced. The rabbit did not know what hit him. The monster gobbled up the prey and started looking for more. The more he ate the bigger he got, the bigger he got the hungrier he became. These creatures, known to Algonquian tribes of the Great Lakes region and other locations, are giants, much larger than humans, the Wendigo.

    The Wendigo are known to be malicious and murderous. They are associated with starvation, the north, and frigid cold temperatures. They hunt all year round but seem to be hungriest during the colder months. Their origins vary from one culture to the next. The Wendigo may have been human at one point and became possessed, forced to become a monster or they were born a monster. Stories vary.

    The most common belief which involved the Wendigo was they originated from a human who had to resort to cannibalism to survive. This terrible circumstance occurred more often when Indian people and settlers found themselves stranded and in a desperate situation, starving and trying to endure the cold of winter. Individuals may be forced to eat the dead of their traveling companions as an act of survival. Some legends involved humans who have succumbed to greed, gluttony and excess and may be possessed by the Wendigo. Their beliefs in the Wendigo  portrayed the importance of cooperation and moderation (Phillips, 2013).

    Barry stretched as he woke up from a long slumber. He nudged Elenore. She turned towards him and smiled. The cabin they rented with their friends was warm and toasty, each bedroom was equipped with a fire place coupled with the electric baseboard heating system. Elenore reached over and grabbed Barry’s arm and pulled him back into bed. He didn’t mind. Being close to Elenore was one of his favorite pastimes. After they snuggled for several minutes, Elenore took a shower.

    He opened the bathroom door and said, “I smell bacon cooking. Hurry up so we can eat before we hit the trails.”

    “Okay,” responded Elenore. She finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair.

    Elenore enjoyed staying at cabin. This was their second year of staying in the same location in an area of upper Minnesota. They decided to invite Clarence and Tracy, two of their best friends, to join them. Snowshoeing the trails during the crisp winter months was a perfect way to spend time in nature. They would talk around the fireplace in the living room at night about how things may have been during the earlier times. One conversation involved the snowshoe priest, Bishop Baraga, and how he snowshoed everywhere around the Michigan territory during the winter months. It amazed them that he traveled  so far on snowshoes.

    Elenore joined the others to eat a hearty breakfast of bacon, pancakes and scrambled eggs. Freshly brewed coffee topped off the satisfying breakfast. Elenore and Barry cleaned up the kitchen and did the dishes after everyone finished eating.

    “I will finish blow drying my hair so we can take off for our hike,” said Elenore.

    “I am glad I showered last night. I did not want to be outside with even slightly damp hair. It’s 18 degrees right now with a wind of 10 to 15 miles per hour. I don’t want my hair to freeze,” said Tracy.

    “I wish I would have thought of that. I am so used to showering in the morning.”

    Barry and Clarence brought in the snowshoes to warm them so they would be easier to put on.

   Barry spread the embers in the fireplace so the fire would die out while they were on their trek.

    A loud clanging sound rang through the cabin. They looked at each other to see who was going to check out what made the sound. Barry grabbed a long thin log from the pile by the fireplace and opened the door to the back yard where it sounded like the noise came from. Clarence was close behind him. Clarence pointed to the large metal garbage can that was tipped over on the concrete skirting of the storage shed. Three raccoons scurried off when they saw Clarence and Barry. They smiled when they saw the raccoons. Living in the city did not afford them opportunities to see much wild life. They enjoyed escaping to rustic surroundings and seeing the wild life.

    “What caused that noise?” asked Tracy.

    “It was raccoons digging through the garbage cans,” replied Barry.

    “Is this bear country?” asked Elenore.

    “There may be a few black bear, but they are more afraid of you than you are of them. Besides they are hibernating,” replied Clarence.

    “I am going to pack us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a thermos of hot chocolate in case we are gone awhile and we start getting hungry or thirsty,” said Elenore.

    “I will pack that thermal pack so the sandwiches won’t freeze,” said Barry. Barry usually packed anything he could he think of. He never wanted to be without something they may need. He prided himself on how prepared he was.

    To pass the time, the men chopped wood for the fire-places. Chopping wood made the men feel useful and it gave them an opportunity to show off their muscles. Their broad shoulders and sleek waists were the result of visiting the gym three to four times a week. The women also visited the same gym and were in very good shape. Tracy ran a 25-mile marathon last summer. She prided herself on maintaining her runner’s body. Elenore was not a runner but she worked out regularly at the local gym.

    They packed their back packs with water and extra mittens and hats. Their snowshoes were top of the line, easy to put on and lightweight. Barry and Clarence worked in Chicago at a law firm and recently made partner. Elenore and Tracy worked at an advertising agency. Money was not an issue. They were established in their careers and planned on being childless so they could enjoy the finer things in life.

    Elenore and Tracy placed hats on their heads, covered their hats with their hoodies and then clamped their hoods over their heads of their thermal coats to ensure their warmth. The men did the same.

    They headed to the trail. The sun brightened the snow, it crunched as they walked on it with their snowshoes. Snow hung heavily on the trees. The group was elated that the trail was groomed which made the excursion even more enjoyable.

    Trees lined the trail on both sides. They stopped to look at a babbling brook and small water fall. Posing several times to take selfies and group pictures to send to their friends back home.

    Barry picked up a strange scent. “Smell that?” he asked Clarence.

    “I do.”

    A large group of hawks were circling above them like buzzards circling their prey.

    Tracy approached Clarence and asked if he noticed the strange smell.

    He nodded.

    “Let’s head back and call it a day,” said Barry.

    Everyone turned around and headed back to the cabin. They had at least a couple of hours of snowshoeing before they would reach the cabin. After an hour, a group of four other people, who were also snowshoeing, were getting closer to them. Soon they met.

    “Hi. I think you are staying in the cabin down the road from ours,” said one of the men.

    “Hi. My name is Barry and he offered to shake the man’s hand.”

    “Hi. I’m Brad.” He shook Barry’s hand.

    “Let me introduce my group. This is my wife Elenore, this is Clarence and his wife Tracy.”

    “This is my wife Gertrude and my friend George and his wife Bethany.”

    Something made a loud crunching sound off to the side of the trail and the eight of them looked towards the direction of the sound.

    Brad pulled a handgun from his backpack and George did the same. Brad fired his gun in the air to scare off whatever made the sound. Tracy and Elenore jumped, not expecting the gunfire to be so loud.

    “We’re used to the sound of gunfire. Our husbands belong to a shooting association and gun clubs and take us with them all the time. We both learned how to shoot guns and have our own pistols,” said Gertrude.

    “I’m impressed,” said Tracy. She looked over at Elenore and thought she felt the same.

    “We smelled something strange a way back on the trail,” said Barry.

    “Never smelled anything like it before, it smelled rotten and sweet at the same time. That’s the best way to describe it,” said Clarence.

    “We will head back with you guys,” said George. Their group turned around and started following Barry and the rest of his group.

    They finally reached the cabins and George turned to Barry and said “We have a lot of different kinds of meat smoked from the day before. Why don’t you come over to our cabin tonight?”

    “What time?” asked Elenore.

    “Would 7:00 work for you?” asked Brad.

    “7:00 it is,” replied Barry.  

    Back at the cabin, Barry and Clarence cracked opened a couple of beers after pouring a couple of glasses of wine for their wives and sat down at the kitchen table to talk about what happened.

    “I don’t know about you, but I think something terrible is hiding in those woods,” said Clarence.

    “I’m with you. I think I will bypass going into the woods tomorrow and perhaps we will head into town and do a little shopping. I saw a couple of shops that may sell souvenirs that the wives may really like.”

    “We need to explore getting guns and learning how to shoot so we can protect our wives and ourselves,” said Clarence.

    “I know of a couple of places that sell guns and there is a place with a shooting range not too far from where our office is,” said Brad.

    “Since it’s only 4:00, I think we have time to take a nap,” said Clarence as he winked at Tracy. 

    Their new friends’ cabin was larger and had a second floor. Tracy and Elenore were given a tour. They drooled over the sauna and hot tub in the rec room.

    “You can come over anytime to use our sauna and hot tub,” said Gertrude.

    “That’s awfully friendly of you,” replied Tracy.

    “Dinner’s ready,” shouted Brad.

    It was a spread. There were smoked strips of New York Strip, turkey, chicken and ham. A bean dish, tossed salad and fruit sat in middle of the table next to the platters of meat.

    “There’s enough food here for an army,” said George proudly.

    “Hope everyone is hungry,” said Brad. He grabbed his plate and started loading it up with meat.

    “Save room for dessert,” said Gertrude.

    “Dessert?” asked Elenore.

    “Yes, we made brownies and apple pie,” said Bethany.

    Everyone gorged themselves on the delicious food.

    “I am going to make a fire. We have stories to tell you about what we think was in the woods today,” said George.

    “I am interested in what you think we heard and smelled,” replied Barry.

 

    After everyone helped clean up the kitchen, they sat down on the large sectional in front of the fireplace. George made a roaring fire. The blue and yellow flames danced around the burning logs. It was mesmerizing to watch.

    “We were talking to some of the local Indian people at the cafe yesterday and one guy told us about monsters that live in this neck of the woods. Scared the bejebees out of us so we decided to carry our guns with us today,” said George.

    “The Algonquian Indians have been telling legends for many years about monsters called the Wendigo. They told us they can possess you and get you to come to them. Wendigos prefer to eat human flesh and can survive in the harshest of weather. It’s like they prefer the cold. The more they eat the larger they get. They walk on two feet and may have been human before they were possessed and made into a monster. They have a funny smell and may smell like burnt flesh. They told us about a well-known case in which this man named Jack Fiddler, who happened to be a medicine man used his powers and defeated 14 Wendigos. These monsters are huge, some as tall as pine trees,” said Brad.

    Barry, Clarence, Tracy and Elenore looked at each other with huge eyes. They looked like they saw a ghost.

    “Even though this is scary, I think you need to hear about what we learned from the locals,” said Brad.

    “Go on,” encouraged Barry.

    “They told us that the Wendigo can take over a host slowly, taking over the person’s mind and body. They will give them nightmares and the host will become sleep deprived, slowly losing a grip on their sanity. They will experience an unbearable burning sensation with their feet and in the end will run into the woods barefoot no matter what time of year, screaming like a madman. They knew of a few people from their tribe they have lost. Never to be seen again,” said Brad.

    “Do you think that is what we smelled today?” asked Elenore. She huddled close to Barry and pulled her knees to her chest like she was protecting her feet.

    “Yes, I believe that’s what you smelled and what we heard,” replied George.

    “Let’s forget about this for a little while so we can all have a good night’s sleep tonight,” said Elenore.

    “Anybody up for a dip in the hot tub?” asked Bethany.

    “We don’t have a swimsuit,” said Tracy.

    “Let’s use our undergarments and you can use our robes while your things are drying,” said Bethany.

    “That will work,” replied Tracy. She was glad she wore a tank top over her bra so she would be more concealed.

     The hot tub was nice. They talked about their families, jobs and where they went to school. The wine was going to the women’s heads.

    “We should call it an evening,” said Tracy. She yawned and tried to cover her mouth to hide her tiredness. She was made fun of sometimes because she was usually the first one to say she wanted to go to bed.

    “Do you want to join us tomorrow when we go into town?” asked Elenore.

    “We would love that,” replied Bethany before anyone else could respond.

    “I am going to drive you to your cabin. You can’t take any chances at this time of night,” said George. He grabbed his gun and led them to his SUV.

    Before they closed the doors to the SUV, they heard howling off in a distance.

    “That’s just coyotes. You don’t have to be concerned about them unless you are a small animal,” said George.

    Elenore grabbed Barry’s hand. He squeezed her hand to reassure her.           

    Barry was tossing and turning in bed that evening. He was having terrible dreams. One of the dreams involved being chased by a large, scary monster. In another dream, he was tied up in the standing position and a monster was about to eat him. He woke up shaking. Elenore held him close and told him he was safe. 

    Barry was up cooking breakfast. He was using the waffle iron that came with the cabin. Fresh strawberries were crushed to put on top of the waffles.

    “Something smells good,” said Clarence. Clarence always hated his name but did not want to hurt his parents’ feelings so he didn’t legally change it. He was named after his great grandfather.

    Clarence walked over to the counter to see what Barry was doing.

    Barry looked over and smiled at Clarence. Barry decided to cook breakfast to keep his mind off the dreams he had the night before.

    Tracy and Elenore walked into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table.

    “Want some coffee?” asked Elenore. She poured a cup of coffee from the carafe and handed it over to Tracy after she nodded.

    “You look tired, Elenore,” said Tracy.

    “Barry was having nightmares last night so I held him close to me to provide him with reassurance and I had the light on. He said the dreams were so real.”

    “I am sorry to hear that, Barry,” said Tracy.

    “I slept like a log,” said Clarence.

    “I may take a nap sometime today so I can be peppy for tonight,” said Barry.

    “What time are we going into town?” asked Elenore.

    “I think we plan on meeting our new friends at the diner at about 12:30,” replied Clarence.

    Everyone enjoyed the waffles and departed to their separate rooms to shower and get dressed.           

    “Hi, everyone,” said Clarence. Their four new friends saved them seats at the diner. Another table had to be pushed next to theirs to accommodate everyone.

    Clarence opened the menu and started reading some of the choices to Tracy. She decided on the whitefish sandwich with fries and Clarence decided to pick his usual choice of a hamburger and fries. The others had a little more trouble deciding what they wanted to order. Most of the food was cooked on the grill and in fryers and they wanted something a little healthier after all they ate the night before. Elenore, Bethany and Gertrude ordered salads and a cup of soup. Brad and George and Barry all ordered the turkey subs.

    Barry told everyone about the dreams he had the night before.

    “I wonder if I put scary thoughts in your head when I told you about the Wendigo,” said Brad.

    “You may have.”

    One of the town’s tribal elder’s ears perked up and he pulled up a chair to their table.

    “You had dreams about the Wendigo, didn’t you?” asked the elder.

    “I did,” replied Barry.

    “That is not a good sign. The monster may be targeting you,” said the elder.

    “Why do you say that?” asked Barry. He looked concerned and looked at Elenore to see her reaction. She shared his feelings.

    “When they target you, they start by messing with your thoughts and dreams and it sounds like that’s what happened to you last night.”

    “I usually sleep like a log and I never remember any of my dreams,” said Barry.

    “He’s right. I normally have to ask him to lie on his side because he is snoring,” said Elenore.

    “My son went missing two months ago. He started having nightmares just like you,” said the elder.

    “You never found him,” inquired Brad.

    “No. There was no trace of him,” replied the elder.

    “I want to forget about all this horrible stuff and perhaps head home earlier than planned,” said Elenore.

    “I think that may be a good idea,” said Tracy.

    “Don’t let your guard down at all. Do not wander off. I would stay in your cabins until you are ready to leave or book rooms at the Cherry Blossom Inn if you would feel safer in town,” warned the elder. The elder left their table as soon as he warned them.

    “What do you want to do?” asked Barry.

    “I would like to check out tomorrow and head for home. I know I am talking for everyone but you can’t be too careful. That monster may be after you, Barry,” said Tracy.

    “I think Tracy is right. We can check out tomorrow and leave the key under the mat as instructed for the next people,” said Barry.

    “I have an idea. Why don’t you guys move into our cabin. We have plenty of room and it may be safer. At least for tonight before you leave tomorrow,” offered Brad.

    “I like that they have an upstairs. I would feel safer,” replied Elenore.

    “Then that’s what we will do. We will clean our cabin and move into yours for tonight,” said Barry.

    Their food was served and everyone sat quietly and ate for a while.

    “The food was really good. I enjoyed my soup immense-ly,” said Bethany.

    “I enjoyed my hamburger,” said Clarence. He rubbed his belly.

    “I want to go shopping and pick up a few souvenirs,” said Gertrude.

   They enjoyed exploring the shops and were surprised to find replicas of Wendigos in one of the Native American shops. The owner of the shop told them the replicas ward off the horrible creatures and also told them about placing sweetgrass and sage around their cabin to protect them. They did not buy anything in that store. They were from the city and were never exposed to any Native American customs, so it made them feel uncomfortable.           

    They returned to their cabins and Elenore, Barry, Tracy and Clarence started packing up their things and brought them to the car except for small overnight bags to take to Brad’s cabin. They heard coyotes howling in a distance and then they heard yelping like the sound of a dog that was injured. They hurried back to the cabin.

    “I am never going to go to a place like this, I mean one that is in middle of the woods again,” said Elenore.

    “I am never going to, either,” replied Tracy.           

    Before sunset, they headed to Brad’s cabin.

    They enjoyed a hearty game of Pictionary and ended up realizing that their new friends were as competitive as they were. The eight of them ended the evening playing Apples to Apples and laughed so hard their sides hurt. The bottles of wine they consumed added to their merriment. The clock in the den struck midnight.

    “I better turn in before I turn into a pumpkin,” chimed Barry.

    “I hope you have a restful sleep. I think you are going to find the beds very comfortable,” said Brad.

    “Thanks for letting us stay here,” said Elenore.           

    It was 3:00 in the morning. Barry sat up. He had a blank look on his face. He stood up and walked towards the bedroom door. He opened the door quietly and crept out into the hall. In a few minutes, he was outside standing in the snow because his feet felt like they were on fire. Steam rose from the spot he was standing. Barry was sleep walking. His name was being called. He walked towards the voice. Barry was led into a deep, dark cavern. He was tied to a long pole that was embedded in the floor of the cave.

    Elenore felt Barry’s side of the bed. She discovered he wasn’t there. She jolted out of bed and ran to find Barry. He was nowhere to be found in the cabin. Terrified she screamed for everyone to wake up. Streams of early daylight fell upon the dark kitchen tiles. Everyone came running.

    “What’s wrong?” asked a terrified Bethany.

    “Barry’s missing,” responded Elenore.

    “We will get dressed and look outside for Barry. You stay put,” ordered Brad.

    The three men went exploring outside around the perimeter of the forest. Afraid to walk into the forest.

    “I think we need to go into town and get the sheriff to help us and perhaps some other men will join in on the search,” said Clarence. He was fretting and rubbing his hands together and through his hair. Everybody was worried sick about Barry.

    The three men rode into town with the four women and stopped at the local sheriff’s office. The sheriff agreed to gather a bunch of men together to search for Barry.

    The group of men, fifteen in all, loaded with guns walked into the forest on the groomed path. Clarence was also given a pistol. He did have some experience hunting with his dad so he was somewhat familiar with using a gun. 

   Clarence’s back was to the woods, when a large hairy arm reached out to grab him. No one saw it happen. They turned to ask him how he was doing and noticed he was missing. They called out Clarence’s name. There was no answer. They had two men to find. The group of desperate men searched for hours. Night was quickly descending, and it was getting dark. They had to give up their search. The lost men were never found.

    Bethany and Gertrude held Tracy and Elenore for a long time, while they sobbed and sobbed. Scared and heartbroken, they decided to leave Minnesota and return to Chicago.

    Tracy and Elenore returned without their husbands. Both women moved in with their parents. Grief held them in its grip and did not let go of them for months after their time in the woods. They never returned to the woods again.           

    The Algonquin Indians have told legends about the Wen-digos for many years. Some believed they actually existed while others wanted everyone to live a life without gluttony and in an effort to live in cooperation with others so they told the legend as a way of promoting good behavior. The Wendigos origins vary, some were born a monster and others made into their monsters after they were forced to eat human flesh due to starvation. Reports of Wendigos go back to the 1600s. The television show Supernatural portrayed a Wendigo as a collector of humans so they could eat them throughout the long cold months. Wendigos were known to always be hungry and the more they ate the larger they became. Many people of all ages have been reported missing in locations in which Wendigos were thought to exist. Beware of the Wendigo, they may be watching you.